Monday, December 5, 2011

COCOA, WHAT A DRAG

Cocoa, FL 28º21.285N | 80º43.235W


I had heard of Cocoa Beach, but never Cocoa. Turned loose on the world on our own (all our cruising friends were either ahead or behind us), we decided to have a look. It was a long day, leaving predawn from Daytona and arriving in Cocoa just before sunset.


It's a rare day that we have trouble anchoring. Our awesome anchor sets the first time, almost without fail. Today was a rare day.

Anchoring is part science, part art. When you drive into a crowded anchorage, you have to find a spot with:
a) enough space to be comfortable
b) enough swinging room, especially if the wind or current will be shifting
c) similar boats around with similar keels and amounts of chain
d) an acceptable depth (you have to put out 7-10 times the depth in chain -- 10 feet = 70-100 ft.)
e) the right vibe.

And so we found one after some tooling around. Chip was taking a turn at anchoring, so he went forward and dropped the anchor. We let it settle, he snubbed it, I backed down. We drug.

We did it all again, and again in another spot.

Finally, we went to hunt around in the other anchorage, where there were no boats. After three tries, the anchor held. Whew.

The next morning, someone came over to politely tell us we couldn't anchor there, so back to the drop and drag, until finally, after three more tries, we were anchored.

Cocoa, a cute little place, was having an arts and crafts fair that leaned heavily toward crafts -- and a Toys for Tots parade of Harleys. Local color.


Our evening was brightened by Max and Jen on Anastasia, who popped in and anchored on the first try. Brilliant!!

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